Beginning in 2014, The United States Congress will enact new energy efficiency standards that will mandate the use of CFLs -- those spirally fluorescent bulbs. This will make the incandescent light bulb (i.e. the type of bulbs you use now) obsolete.
The government has made this decision because the CFLs use about 25 percent of the energy and last 10 times longer than the bulb Edison first invented over a hundred years ago. Sounds like a good idea, right? Wrong. Besides the fact that they emit a harsh glow that makes everyone look like that ugly girl you’ve been talking to until last call when the lights come on, they are actually bad for the environment.
They all contain a small amount of mercury that, unless recycled properly, will leak into landfills and leach into our water supply. Proponents will claim that when you consider the extra production of energy needed because of the inefficiency of regular bulbs, the total toxic mercury footprint is negligible. This is a dumb argument. Why are we allowing our government to dictate what kind of light we can use when it doesn’t ultimately solve the problem – and in fact, may make it worse?
Similar dumb logic comes to mind in a story dating back to Hawaii in 1883. Rats from merchant ships had infested the islands and had no natural predators to keep them in check. A decision was made to import 72 mongooses from Jamaica, believing that they would restore a natural balance to the food chain.
Guess what happened next. Hawaii hosts no natural predators for mongooses either and they began to take over the island. Ironically, rats are nocturnal and mainly active at night, while mongooses prefer to hunt during the day. The rat population continues to thrive and their supposed predators infest the island and carry just as many communicable diseases.
Importing bad solutions to fix other bad problems is not the business that government should be in. A more reasonable solution might include large government prizes to the company that invents a new, clean, and energy efficient light source. Another fix could include tax breaks to private firms that supply renewable energy. Some conservative economists, including The Prometheus Institute (a Libertarian think tank) even believe that a carbon tax, if offset by comprehensive across-the-board tax reductions, would be the ideal way to attack the problem at the root. This proposal essentially builds the externalized (or social) cost of fossil fuels into the equation through a revenue neutral tax. This would be much preferred over an inflexible and bureaucratic cap-and-trade program or things like government mandated light bulbs.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Health Care: Response to a Liberal's Comment
A liberal friend posted a comment about my Goldman Sachs health plan piece ... here's my response:
The comment:
a few points:
1. a real market conservative would argue:
a) you can't provide your employees healthcare without generating profits
b) you can't generate the most profits without the best talent
c) you can't attract the best talent without the best benefit package (heh)
d) ergo, the $40k secretary better thank her $750k estrogen-hopped-up boss -- not only for her job to begin with -- but for her healthcare in the first place. most companies only partially subsidize these costs for their employees, paying for the remainder using a progressive scale that ties contribution rates to salary (similar to payroll taxes). therefore, she's getting a better deal than he is.
2. nice anti hilary/obama-care straw man. very similar logic to the santorum-school of political rhetoric: no same-sex marriages or the bestiality people will want to marry their dogs next...
3. finally, "mandated benefits increase the cost of basic health coverage"? duh. that's the basic definition of health coverage: mandated benefits. i get sick, the insurer must pay for my meds. i break an arm, they must pay for my cast. but since universal healthcare is a political idea who's time has come, you're right that the next battle will most definitely be over mandatory vs. elective benefit definition.
...and keep on blogging, yo. given any more thought those "imaginary" obama republicans?
The response:
Thanks for the comments c-dub. Here are my thoughts back:
1. How would you know what a real market conservative would do? Have you met another one besides me in the East Village or Brooklyn?
a) Um, I’m not quite sure what you mean here, but the whole employer based system is bunk. Don’t get me wrong, I like it better than the idea of gov’t run health care, but we need to de-couple it from the workplace, it makes no more sense than employer sponsored home garbage pickup.
If businesses get out of the health care business, we can then: 1) create major incentives for health savings accounts; 2) allow consumers to shop across state lines for their care, essentially busting the trusts that government has created; 3) make health care portable, so that if you lose your job, you don’t lose your insurance. Also, since gov’t has to pay taxes on health care provisions, wages would likely rise … certainly liberals wouldn’t want that to happen. We should let able-bodied people take care of themselves. You don’t need mommy and daddy to pay your rent, why should Uncle Sam pay for your herpes medicine.
b-d) Leave it to a liberal elitist to have no sympathy for a middle class, secretary making 40k. If you’re not speaking Spanish and sucking the gov’t teet, you’re out of luck, eh? I can only assume you’d also argue that since Dennis Koslowski (jailed Tyco CEO) “subsidized” lower tiered employees with booming profits, it’s also ok that he bought his wife a $9K shower curtain on the company’s dime?
2-3) My argument is more “slippery slope” than “straw man.” Rick Santorum gave an intellectually dishonest argument about why we shouldn’t allow gay marriage. He’d be better off just saying he thinks gays are going to hell and taking society with them. At least we could give him credit for speaking his mind. In my case, I am actually concerned about the fiscal responsibility of universal health care. I’m not diametrically opposed to people getting health insurance, I’m diametrically opposed to working 50 hours a week and paying your bills.
Here’s the juice: as you agreed, mandates always raise the cost of coverage. And although most of these individual mandates have a relatively small impact on their own, the aggregate cost of thousands of mandates is frightening. And when people can’t afford health care, they choose to go uninsured.
The time for socialized health care has not come. While imperfect, the U.S. health care system is the best in the world. Not only do we have the best doctors, medicine, and technology, but we also have the highest life expectancy when you average-out accidental deaths. Who wants a doctors visit to feel like a trip to the DMV? You're crazy if you think it won't be like that. Further, of the 47 million uninsured that Clinton and Obama cite, only a small percentage of them can’t get insurance. If you combine illegal aliens, those eligible for Medicaid (but who haven’t applied), and those with household incomes of 50k or more (top half of the income distribution), but uninsured by choice, you’ve got a relatively small number.
We should be very wary of nationalizing an industry because a few percent of 300 million people are struggling; we wouldn’t nationalize any other industry because some of its workers were unemployed (well, maybe you would). Any plan should be specifically focused on helping the group of people who truly need it.
And as far as your wet dream of Obama Republicans … only if Huckabee wins the primary. Sorry, friend.
The comment:
a few points:
1. a real market conservative would argue:
a) you can't provide your employees healthcare without generating profits
b) you can't generate the most profits without the best talent
c) you can't attract the best talent without the best benefit package (heh)
d) ergo, the $40k secretary better thank her $750k estrogen-hopped-up boss -- not only for her job to begin with -- but for her healthcare in the first place. most companies only partially subsidize these costs for their employees, paying for the remainder using a progressive scale that ties contribution rates to salary (similar to payroll taxes). therefore, she's getting a better deal than he is.
2. nice anti hilary/obama-care straw man. very similar logic to the santorum-school of political rhetoric: no same-sex marriages or the bestiality people will want to marry their dogs next...
3. finally, "mandated benefits increase the cost of basic health coverage"? duh. that's the basic definition of health coverage: mandated benefits. i get sick, the insurer must pay for my meds. i break an arm, they must pay for my cast. but since universal healthcare is a political idea who's time has come, you're right that the next battle will most definitely be over mandatory vs. elective benefit definition.
...and keep on blogging, yo. given any more thought those "imaginary" obama republicans?
The response:
Thanks for the comments c-dub. Here are my thoughts back:
1. How would you know what a real market conservative would do? Have you met another one besides me in the East Village or Brooklyn?
a) Um, I’m not quite sure what you mean here, but the whole employer based system is bunk. Don’t get me wrong, I like it better than the idea of gov’t run health care, but we need to de-couple it from the workplace, it makes no more sense than employer sponsored home garbage pickup.
If businesses get out of the health care business, we can then: 1) create major incentives for health savings accounts; 2) allow consumers to shop across state lines for their care, essentially busting the trusts that government has created; 3) make health care portable, so that if you lose your job, you don’t lose your insurance. Also, since gov’t has to pay taxes on health care provisions, wages would likely rise … certainly liberals wouldn’t want that to happen. We should let able-bodied people take care of themselves. You don’t need mommy and daddy to pay your rent, why should Uncle Sam pay for your herpes medicine.
b-d) Leave it to a liberal elitist to have no sympathy for a middle class, secretary making 40k. If you’re not speaking Spanish and sucking the gov’t teet, you’re out of luck, eh? I can only assume you’d also argue that since Dennis Koslowski (jailed Tyco CEO) “subsidized” lower tiered employees with booming profits, it’s also ok that he bought his wife a $9K shower curtain on the company’s dime?
2-3) My argument is more “slippery slope” than “straw man.” Rick Santorum gave an intellectually dishonest argument about why we shouldn’t allow gay marriage. He’d be better off just saying he thinks gays are going to hell and taking society with them. At least we could give him credit for speaking his mind. In my case, I am actually concerned about the fiscal responsibility of universal health care. I’m not diametrically opposed to people getting health insurance, I’m diametrically opposed to working 50 hours a week and paying your bills.
Here’s the juice: as you agreed, mandates always raise the cost of coverage. And although most of these individual mandates have a relatively small impact on their own, the aggregate cost of thousands of mandates is frightening. And when people can’t afford health care, they choose to go uninsured.
The time for socialized health care has not come. While imperfect, the U.S. health care system is the best in the world. Not only do we have the best doctors, medicine, and technology, but we also have the highest life expectancy when you average-out accidental deaths. Who wants a doctors visit to feel like a trip to the DMV? You're crazy if you think it won't be like that. Further, of the 47 million uninsured that Clinton and Obama cite, only a small percentage of them can’t get insurance. If you combine illegal aliens, those eligible for Medicaid (but who haven’t applied), and those with household incomes of 50k or more (top half of the income distribution), but uninsured by choice, you’ve got a relatively small number.
We should be very wary of nationalizing an industry because a few percent of 300 million people are struggling; we wouldn’t nationalize any other industry because some of its workers were unemployed (well, maybe you would). Any plan should be specifically focused on helping the group of people who truly need it.
And as far as your wet dream of Obama Republicans … only if Huckabee wins the primary. Sorry, friend.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Sex Change free at Goldman Sachs
Due to some very unique perks, Goldman Sachs was recently ranked 9th in Fortune Magazine’s annual list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. The financial giant added sex reassignment surgery to its health insurance coverage, reasoning that it would help “attract top talent and retain a more diverse workforce.”
While I personally believe the desire to chop your dick off is a personal choice, if not a bit unusual, it’s hard to challenge a private company for doing something that it believes will ultimately help it’s bottom line. Goldman had the foresight to avoid the current mortgage crisis and we should at least give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to navigating a little foreskin. But there are a couple of things about this that bother me.
First, while most employees at Goldman can afford expensive coverage that includes less-than-mainstream health options, the $40K-a-year secretary who’s a divorced mother of three still has to pay into the plan. This means that she is subsidizing Richie Rich’s deep-seated need to have breasts. Why should the janitor, or the kid in the data-entry department have to pay more for his asthma inhaler because someone else needs the company to pay for her testosterone? Let those who are deeply confused get some therapy and pay for a shiny new vagina with their seven-figure bonus.
More importantly, this sets a horrible health care precedent. In a 2009 world in which the Democrats may hold the White House and Congress, a Clinton or Obama universal health care will be at the top of the agenda. If it ever passes, you can bet that it will be loaded with non-medical mandated coverage that hikes up the price. Check out this quote from an article on Heritage.org (a conservative think tank):
Do you think that Gay and Lesbian special interest groups will not eventually push to add sex change operations to the list of mandated coverage? By the way, this isn’t an anti-gay rant: my libertarian side believes that government shouldn’t legislate who can and cannot get married, but it shouldn’t make tax payers cough up money for Jack to become Jill any more than it should pay for every guy in the country to get penis enlargement surgery. People in this country are free to do what they choose, but citizens shouldn’t be forced to subsidize whacked-out desires.
While I personally believe the desire to chop your dick off is a personal choice, if not a bit unusual, it’s hard to challenge a private company for doing something that it believes will ultimately help it’s bottom line. Goldman had the foresight to avoid the current mortgage crisis and we should at least give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to navigating a little foreskin. But there are a couple of things about this that bother me.
First, while most employees at Goldman can afford expensive coverage that includes less-than-mainstream health options, the $40K-a-year secretary who’s a divorced mother of three still has to pay into the plan. This means that she is subsidizing Richie Rich’s deep-seated need to have breasts. Why should the janitor, or the kid in the data-entry department have to pay more for his asthma inhaler because someone else needs the company to pay for her testosterone? Let those who are deeply confused get some therapy and pay for a shiny new vagina with their seven-figure bonus.
More importantly, this sets a horrible health care precedent. In a 2009 world in which the Democrats may hold the White House and Congress, a Clinton or Obama universal health care will be at the top of the agenda. If it ever passes, you can bet that it will be loaded with non-medical mandated coverage that hikes up the price. Check out this quote from an article on Heritage.org (a conservative think tank):
According to the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, mandated benefits increase the cost of basic health coverage by as much as 60 percent or more in mandate-crazy jurisdictions such as in Minnesota, Maryland and Virginia. Even in states with relatively few mandates, the nanny-state premium adds 20 percent to the cost of coverage.
Do you think that Gay and Lesbian special interest groups will not eventually push to add sex change operations to the list of mandated coverage? By the way, this isn’t an anti-gay rant: my libertarian side believes that government shouldn’t legislate who can and cannot get married, but it shouldn’t make tax payers cough up money for Jack to become Jill any more than it should pay for every guy in the country to get penis enlargement surgery. People in this country are free to do what they choose, but citizens shouldn’t be forced to subsidize whacked-out desires.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Red Sox Flip Flop Dooms Giuliani in Republican Race
“I will be rooting for the Red Sox…you won the division and we lost. Somehow it makes me feel better if the team that was ahead of the Yankees wins the World Series, because then I feel like, well, we’re not that bad.”
-Former New York Mayor and Die-Hard Yankee Fan Rudy Giuliani on campaign trail in New Hampshire (Red Sox country)
When the New York Post reported Rudy’s BoSox claim, it was October 23rd and he was leading the national polls and well ahead in big pre-Super Tuesday states like Florida. A Quinnipiac University Poll had Giuliani at 30 percent and John McCain at 14 percent. It also showed him beating Hillary 46-43 and Obama 47-40. In the final outcome on January 29th, Florida was the guillotine for the former New York Mayor’s dumb all-or-nothing campaign strategy which bet it all on a victory in the Sunshine State.
As you know, it didn’t work, and he placed a very distant third (14.6%) to winner John McCain (36%) and runner-up Mitt Romney (31.1%). What happened? There were no big blow-ups, no Dean-like screams, no floosies. Some pundits will complain that the New York Times pulled a front page hit job on him every other day and he got clobbered by Tim Russert on Meet the Press. He also looked stupid taking a phone call from his wife in the middle of an NRA speech – an attempt to look like a family man (or something), though it came across as staged and rude.
But let’s face it, most readers of the Times and most members of the NRA weren’t going to give Rudy their vote anyway. So what really happened? The Red Sox flip-flop is what happened. Rudy’s whole thing was that he was a foreign policy hawk, a national security strongman, a man who may be unlikable, but whose backbone was strong. The Red Sox flip-flop brought his entire character into question. For sports fans (and especially Boston and Yankees fans) this infidelity was tantamount to saying, “If America loses in Iraq, I hope Al-Qaeda takes over the world so at least we lost to the best.”
Suddenly Republicans started to question Rudy's meddle in the face of evil. And once they began to do that, McCain looked like a much more attractive candidate. These guys were fighting for the same national security votes, but McCain didn’t switch alliances because it was politically convenient. McCain also didn’t have questions about shady business dealings or questions about public money paying for his mistress’s limo rides. McCain was willing to say the hard things that needed to be said (though it cost him in Michigan) and primary voters trusted him even if they disagreed with him.
It seems like a small thing, but sometimes these little details completely affect the brand image that voters conjure when pulling the lever in the voting booth. I’m curious to see what happens next time Rudy shows up at a Yankees game. He might fare worse than he did in the Republican Primary.
-Former New York Mayor and Die-Hard Yankee Fan Rudy Giuliani on campaign trail in New Hampshire (Red Sox country)
When the New York Post reported Rudy’s BoSox claim, it was October 23rd and he was leading the national polls and well ahead in big pre-Super Tuesday states like Florida. A Quinnipiac University Poll had Giuliani at 30 percent and John McCain at 14 percent. It also showed him beating Hillary 46-43 and Obama 47-40. In the final outcome on January 29th, Florida was the guillotine for the former New York Mayor’s dumb all-or-nothing campaign strategy which bet it all on a victory in the Sunshine State.
As you know, it didn’t work, and he placed a very distant third (14.6%) to winner John McCain (36%) and runner-up Mitt Romney (31.1%). What happened? There were no big blow-ups, no Dean-like screams, no floosies. Some pundits will complain that the New York Times pulled a front page hit job on him every other day and he got clobbered by Tim Russert on Meet the Press. He also looked stupid taking a phone call from his wife in the middle of an NRA speech – an attempt to look like a family man (or something), though it came across as staged and rude.
But let’s face it, most readers of the Times and most members of the NRA weren’t going to give Rudy their vote anyway. So what really happened? The Red Sox flip-flop is what happened. Rudy’s whole thing was that he was a foreign policy hawk, a national security strongman, a man who may be unlikable, but whose backbone was strong. The Red Sox flip-flop brought his entire character into question. For sports fans (and especially Boston and Yankees fans) this infidelity was tantamount to saying, “If America loses in Iraq, I hope Al-Qaeda takes over the world so at least we lost to the best.”
Suddenly Republicans started to question Rudy's meddle in the face of evil. And once they began to do that, McCain looked like a much more attractive candidate. These guys were fighting for the same national security votes, but McCain didn’t switch alliances because it was politically convenient. McCain also didn’t have questions about shady business dealings or questions about public money paying for his mistress’s limo rides. McCain was willing to say the hard things that needed to be said (though it cost him in Michigan) and primary voters trusted him even if they disagreed with him.
It seems like a small thing, but sometimes these little details completely affect the brand image that voters conjure when pulling the lever in the voting booth. I’m curious to see what happens next time Rudy shows up at a Yankees game. He might fare worse than he did in the Republican Primary.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Democrats Reference the Wrong Presidents and Show Their Colors
The past week has seen a lot of hoo-ha from those in the Democratic Party about references to ex-presidents made by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately for those on the left, and those REALLY on the left, the candidates referenced the wrong historical figures.
Hillary seemed to give more credit to LBJ than to MLK for the success of the civil rights movement (see clip above) and Obama waxed admiring about the transcendent presidency of Ronald Reagan (also see above clip). Woah. A week away from MLK Day and the South Carolina Primary and you talk down the importance of the most significant civil rights leader the U.S. has seen? Why? To pander to the LBJ wing of the Democratic Party? The truth is, actually, yes. But I don't think this wing of the party, nor Hillary, thinks that MLK was unimportant and I don't think they're racist. I do think, however, that this shows a political candidate who believes that it takes government to make things happen. In her world view, leadership comes from the top down, not the other way around. Yet this betrays the true essence of the civil rights movement which was a people-first, grassroots revolution. In a Hillary administration, we can expect more of this thinking: solutions come only when government "allows" them; change only occurs when it is handed down to the people like the commandments from Moses. What America needs most at this moment is not more government interference, it needs government to recuse itself from the case and allow the people to decide what's best for themselves just as it was the people whom LBJ couldn't ignore when he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964.
The other political faux pas this week came from Barack Obama. He said that he believed that Reagan had, "Changed the trajectory of America...because the country was ready for it." Obama has been attacked on all sides of the liberal spectrum, from John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, to the New York Times and the entire lefty blogosphere. But this too is an example of a political candidate showing his colors with a statement destined to be unpopular during primary season. No, I don't think that Obama is the next Reagan, he's an unashamed liberal, but he's smart to run as a "change" candidate. He may take some heat now, but it makes him more electable in a general election. It shows that he's above the irrational, partisan fray of election year politics. And it shows that he's a candidate that is interested in creating a movement similar to the Reagan Democrats. Obama Republicans has a nice ring to it, but it won't happen. His claim to transcendence is based more on audacious oratory than on any real record of change. But while he may not be able to deliver on the rhetoric, it can give him a great chance starting in January 2009 to prove it.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Perhaps Oprah and Chuck Norris Don't Play in New Hampshire
At 10:15 p.m. est, we've got the results of the New Hampshire Republican and Democratic primaries. Right now, it looks like Hillary and her Trail of Tears is going to take the Democratic delegates in a very tight race over Obama, but John McCain has kicked some major ass on the Republican side. Huckabee, Chuck Norris, and creationism simply don't have the same appeal in the Granite State as they do among evangelical Iowans.
McCain won on the backs of the same independent voters that gave him New Hampshire in 2000 vs. George W. Bush. In fact, Johnny Mac likely took many votes from ... yes, Barack Obama. The open NH primary proved key. I like John McCain, but I think his chances are still low. The GOP is shaping into a WWF Cage Match. It is WIDE open. Look at the following possibilities heading into Super Tuesday on February 5th:
Iowa: Huckabee
New Hampshire: McCain
Michigan 1/15: Likely Mitt Romney
South Carolina 1/19: Likely Huckabee
Nevada 1/19: Giuliani has lead
Florida 1/29: Giuliani has lead
So leading into "Tsunami Tuesday," it will likely be neck-and-neck with NO clear leader. I don't think anyone knows who will be the last man standing. It's hard to imagine Giuliani, who may not post his first victory for another 2 weeks, and Fred Thompson is doing the dead man's float, but everyone else has a very legitimate chance.
McCain won on the backs of the same independent voters that gave him New Hampshire in 2000 vs. George W. Bush. In fact, Johnny Mac likely took many votes from ... yes, Barack Obama. The open NH primary proved key. I like John McCain, but I think his chances are still low. The GOP is shaping into a WWF Cage Match. It is WIDE open. Look at the following possibilities heading into Super Tuesday on February 5th:
Iowa: Huckabee
New Hampshire: McCain
Michigan 1/15: Likely Mitt Romney
South Carolina 1/19: Likely Huckabee
Nevada 1/19: Giuliani has lead
Florida 1/29: Giuliani has lead
So leading into "Tsunami Tuesday," it will likely be neck-and-neck with NO clear leader. I don't think anyone knows who will be the last man standing. It's hard to imagine Giuliani, who may not post his first victory for another 2 weeks, and Fred Thompson is doing the dead man's float, but everyone else has a very legitimate chance.
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